Hanpirei: inverse proportion

I had my first class of the trip tonight and I must say that I was a little lost. It will take me some time (and sleep) to be able to tell you exactly what we did. So to feed you with something I will explain a new concept taught by sensei before I arrived.

On arrival in the lobby yesterday, I met friends commenting a recent class with Sôke who spoke about “hanpirei”and I thought I could share it with you. This concept reminded me of the famous drawing (see picture) by M.C. ESCHER a Dutch graphist of the end of the 19th century.

Last November after one training with sensei I wrote the following: “To summarize the whole training that day sensei used a nice image. He said: “don’t be strong, don’t be weak, be zero and through this zero you can see the solution”. Saying that he put his hands in a circle and looked through them as if using a telescope. Once again everything is linked. Telescopes are used to see through sideral space and the stronger they are, the further back in time they can see. You should become a powerful telescope and see through time and space in order to be aware of what is coming next even before Uke knows about it.

It goes quite well together with this “hanpirei” concept. “Hanpirei” 反比例, this « inverse proportion » can be understood as watching through the other end of the telescope. Therefore instead of going in the past through time and space you become able to foresee the future and solve the problem before it is created.

Still going through time and space, but this time in the other direction you will be where uke will be and counter his moves even before he is moving.

Strangely, if you look into it from any end you will be able to « react » before the « action ». If you are seing through the past, then you are aware of the origin of his movements. But if you are watching into the future, you will see where he will be and what he will do.

And this is also the meaning of the « koteki ryûda juppô sesshô » of 2003. As you are the tiger and the dragon at the same time, you let uke in his past and projected in his future; and you move in a present that he is not able to see because he is never there. Everything is linked.

Through the kaname 要of your present, you are seeing through the past and into the future of uke. Present is nurtured by both the past and the future. It is a self-creation like the hands by Escher. This is the « henka » principle. Being aware of hen (the beginning of the change) and ka (the end of the change) you are in the « kû » state of mind (the completion). Zero.

You are « zero » because you are everywhere at any time and in any space.